The ticking time bomb that is the national debt just crossed the $40 trillion mark and could spark a fiscal crisis that could throw the economy into disarray, spiking unemployment and exploding inflation.

Republicans and some centrist Democrats have long sounded the alarm about growing debt and deficits. The debt first crossed the $1 trillion mark in 1981, but lawmakers of both parties have done little to reduce debt and deficits since the temporary run of balanced budgets from fiscal 1998 through 2001.